Ukrainian military base that was scene of opening stand-off in Crimea two
weeks ago is attacked again by Russian forces, shots fired.

Troops at one of the last major Ukrainian bases in Crimea defiantly sang their national anthem on Saturday as Russian forces stormed their compound and demanded their surrender.

Russian soldiers and armed pro-Kremlin toughs assaulted the base just after lunchtime, backed by armoured vehicles that smashed through the compound’s gates.

The raid came after the Ukrainians had pointedly ignored a deadline from the Russians to surrender, even holding a wedding celebration at the base for a newly-married serviceman and his bride.

As the Russian force, bristling with heavy machine guns, over-ran the base, the Ukrainians realised it was pointless to try to fight back. Instead, they lined up on the parade ground and burst into song as the intruders held them at gunpoint.

The symbolic gesture of defiance took place at the Belbek air base near Sevastopol, which was the scene of one of the first stand-offs in Crimea last month when the base’s commander had a face-to-face confrontation with Russian troops.

The extraordinary scenes unfolded as the West took further steps to isolate Moscow over its military annexation of Crimea, which saw rafts of EU and US sanctions slapped on President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle last week.

Poland urged the US to increase its military presence in Eastern Europe, a move that could reverse two decades of gradual demilitarisation of the old Cold War faultlines.

Ukrainian servicemen line up and applaud after singing the national anthem outside a fleet air base after members of pro-Russian self-defence units took over in the Crimean village of Novofyodorovka Photo: REUTERS

Meanwhile, William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, warned that the Kremlin was cultivating zones of influence in Europe, using its vast oil wealth to buy up huge stakes in the corrupt and ramshackle economies of the Balkans.

Diplomats have told The Telegraph that the Kremlin’s growing foothold in the region could upset plans for EU membership for both Bosnia and Serbia, both of which harbour hardline Serb factions that are strongly pro-Russian.

Saturday’s assault on the Belbek airbase took place around 4pm local time, when a large number of Russian Cossacks, backed by regular troops, arrived outside in armoured vehicles and jeeps mounted with heavy machine guns. Accompanying them were masked militiamen armed with Kalashnikovs, who threw up a cordon around the compound.

Shortly before the raid, Colonel Yuli Mamchur, the base’s Ukrainian commander, told reporters on the base that requests had been coming in nearly every day from the Russians telling them to leave.

“They are military, but it seems like they don’t understand something, as an officer I don’t have the right to leave my working place without an order,” he said.

Instead, the Ukrainians, who had had their weapons confiscated from them during a previous Russian incursion onto the base, attempted to carry on with life as normal. Film footage from the base released on Saturday showed a military wedding party underway, with soldiers cutting a cake, drinking Russian champagne, and toasting the newly weds - despite the Russian armoured vehicles looming nearer beyond the fence.

Having used an armoured vehicle to ram a truck that the Ukrainians had blocked the main gate gate with, Russian forces then overran the base. Explosions from stun grenades were heard and shots were fired, although only one Ukrainian soldier was believed to have been injured.

Inside, Colonel Yuli Mamchur, the commander of Ukrainian air force’s 204th tactical aviation brigade, drew up his troops on the parade ground, where they sang the Ukrainian national anthem.

As they did so, the Russian miliitiamen outside jeered and shouted “go home”. A man in camouflage and sunglasses dismantled a camera that had provided a live feed of the front gate to the base.

“We did not provoke this, this was brute force,” said a Ukrainian officer who identified himself only as Vladislav. “I do not know whether this base will be formally in Russian hands by the end of the day.”

A Cossack commander outside the base insisted to journalists that they would send the Ukrainians home “peacefully”, although some of the masked gunmen nearby attacked cameramen and confiscated their film.

As of last night, the Ukrainian troops were being slowly let out of the base, having been frisked for weapons first. Col Mamchur, however, was taken away by the Russians for questioning. Asked if he thought he would return safely, he replied: “That remains to be seen.”

Col Mamchur, a former fighter pilot, enjoyed a brief moment of fame three weeks ago when Russian soldiers first occupied parts of his base, in one of the opening moves in President Putin’s military takeover of the Crimean peninsula.

Colonel Mamchur, whose men are mainly air technicians and pilots rather than frontline combat troops, realised straightaway the futility of fighting against what he suspected were Russian special forces.

He did, however, demand for his men to be allowed to work on the base as normal, which led to a tense five-hour stand-off with the Russian forces, who pulled their guns and fired warning shots. Captured live on television, it showed the world how close the Crimean conflict was coming to all-out war.

The Russians then reluctantly allowed some of Col Mamchur’s men to patrol the aerodrome with them, but since then the Ukrainians have largely been confined to their residential buildings and command centre.

Ukraine’s defence ministry said on Friday that Crimea’s bases were still formally under Ukrainian control, but most are now occupied by Russian troops and fly Russia’s tricolour flag.

Elsewhere in Crimea on Saturday, a crowd believed to be at least 200 strong attacked a Ukrainian military base in the town of Novofedorivka and smashed windows.

Ukrainain servicemen inside tried to repel them by throwing smoke bombs from the roof. Russian forces also seized control of Ukraine’s only submarine, the Zaporozhe, the Zaporizhya, and took it to a base at a bay in Sevastopol

In the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, meanwhile, more than 2,000 pro-Russian residents demonstrated for a referendum on whether to follow Crimea’s lead by splitting off from Ukraine to become part of Russia.

A large segment of the crowd carried banners supporting Ukraine’s deposed president, Viktor Yanukovych. “Yanukovych is our president. He was driven away from the country by illegal force,” said Viktoria Keminko, the wife of a coal miner. “He must come back and face elections.”

However, the protests were notably smaller than in previous weeks, reflecting splits within Donetsk’s pro-Russian factions. In a demonstration of their diminished force, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German foreign minister, spent an hour in the Donetsk government headquarters on Saturday without running into trouble from the protesters.

He revealed assurances from Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukraine’s new prime minister, that constitutional reforms to address the grievances of Russians speakers in the eastern half of the country would be proposed. “We know the fears of many people that the region may go the way of Crimea and will secede,” Mr Steinmeier said. “But I have have been told that legislation will be brought forward for decentralisation of powers to local governments that want this.”

The latest flare-ups came as Poland urged the US to increase its military presence in Poland and other central and eastern European Nato members.

“The US must increase its presence in (central and eastern) Europe, also in Poland,” said Tomasz Siemoniak, the Polish defence minister, in a radio interview. He was speaking in the wake of a visit by Joe Biden, the US vice-president, to Poland last Tuesday, where Mr Biden confirmed existing plans to deploy a US missile shield in Poland by 2018.

Mr Siemoniak added: “We will be talking about the details and I am happy that representatives of the U.S., the U.S. vice president are open towards these talks.”

Separately, William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, warned that the same gangster capitalism that has blighted both Russia and Ukraine was now spreading to parts of Europe, particularly the former republics of Yugoslavia and Greece, which is still reeling from the Eurozone crash.

In an article for today’s Sunday Telegraph, in which he described Russia’s annexation of Crimea as “an outrageous land grab”, Mr Hague said that networks of pro-Kremlin oligarchs had gained a strong foothold in the region, via investment in the energy sector, the media, and buy-ups of struggling banks.

That has bought increasing Kremlin influence with the region’s leaders, some of whom have gone so far as publicly backing Russia’s military action in Ukraine.

Warning of what he described as Russian “oligarchisation” coming to south-east Europe, Mr Hague said: “There is an evident danger of some of the same corrupting habits spreading into democratic countries. In South East Europe and the Balkans in particular, we are seeing the creation of concentrations of economic, political and media power which could inhibit the development of genuine or stable democracy and reverse progress already made.”

A British government source said the situation raised potential concerns about the European Union’s plans to offer membership to Bosnia and Serbia, both of which are home to hardline Serb factions who are strongly-pro Russian. “You do have to ask how much the EU would want to have a specially close relationship with countries that are so heavily in thrall to the Kremlin,” the source said.

Only last week, Milorad Dodik, the leader of the Republika Serbska, a Serbian statelet within Bosnia that is strongly pro-Russian, described last Sunday’s referendum in Crimea on joining Russia as “legitimate and democratic”. America and the EU have denounced the referendum as an illegal charade carried out “down the barrel of a gun”.

Meanwhile, Washington’s top trade official called for the US and the EU to deepen their business ties in the wake of the fall out with Russia. “Right now as we look around the world, there is a powerful reason for Europe and the United States to come together to demonstrate that they can take their relationship to a new level,” said US trade representative Michael Froman.

Brussels and Washington say a trade pact encompassing almost half the world’s economy could generate $100 billion in additional economic output a year on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as creating a market of 800 million consumers.

But since talks were launched eight months ago, reports of US spying in Europe and accusations that an accord would pander to big companies have combined to erode public support.

The US president, Barack Obama, is due to meet with European leaders in Holland on Monday to discuss ways of putting further pressure on Russia.